Get back to me form
We’ll answer your questions

Climate change may affect the availability and abundance of huckleberries. By better understanding these changes, scientists can help to protect the species that rely on this important resource.

Huckleberries are an important food resource for grizzly bears, comprising about 15 percent of their diet in Glacier National Park and surrounding areas. These high-energy fruits are crucial for bears so they can add enough fat to sustain them for their winter hibernation and reproduce (female bears need approximately 20 percent body fat to have cubs). Changes in climate, however, such as warming temperatures, varying levels of rainfall, and declines in pollinator populations, can alter the availability and size of these berries. These changes not only impact bears, but grouse, elk, and many other species that depend on this precious food resource.

If the abundance of huckleberries is negatively impacted by climate change, bears may begin moving around more in search of food, which could lead to conflicts with humans. But what if scientists could predict changes in the availability of these berries in advance, and either manage land to increase consistency in the availability of these berries or otherwise mitigate conflicts before they even arise?

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working through a partnership agreement with Swan Valley Connections (SVC) to lead this Earthwatch expedition. SVC, situated in Montana's scenic Swan Valley, is a non-profit organization whose work is a confluence of collaborative conservation and experiential learning.

Join USGS and SVC researchers in “big sky country” in northwestern Montana to collect data to understand and predict the impact of climate change on huckleberries, while assessing the role of huckleberries as food for bears, other mammals, and birds. These efforts could help to protect this important resource and the many species that depend on it.

Duration

Lead scientists

Accommodation and food

Why the research is important

Why the research is important

Huckleberries provide the calories bears need during a period of time when they’re fattening up for hibernation and reproduction.

Low food resources could lead bears and other species to search for food outside of their typical range, where they could come into conflict with humans.

In the northwestern U.S., climate change threatens to impact the availability and abundance of huckleberries. What remains unknown, however, is which changes in particular – from water availability to temperature to pollination – will have the most significant impacts and how they interact. It is also unclear how these changes will influence bears, grouse, elk, and many other species that depend on huckleberries as a key food resource.

Help scientists to create maps that can serve as an “early-warning system” for areas likely to have fewer huckleberries, leading to more bear movement.

Using experimental methods, scientists are working to sort out and measure the effects of individual changes in weather and insects on the success of huckleberries. If they find, for example, that low pollination has the largest influence in huckleberry production, scientists and policy-makers could devise new ways to promote the health of bees and other pollinators in the region.

The research will help USGS scientists in understanding the interacting effects of weather, insects, and other conditions that influence huckleberry productivity. USGS will combine this with other data to build maps that can serve as a tool to understand the consistency and location of high productivity huckleberry patches across years. Such maps enable managers to identify more resilient patches that have high productivity in low precipitation years and prioritize areas for restoration or conservation and protection from high severity wildfires. The maps can also serve as an “early-warning system” for low-productivity regions, where bears and other species may roam outside of their typical range in search of food. Predicting this movement in advance could help wildlife managers to prevent conflict with humans.

About the research area

The Flathead National Forest in northwest Montana is located just south of Glacier National Park, with over one million acres of wild ruggedness, over 1,000 species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals, including grizzly bears, wolves, cougars, moose, elk, deer, wolverine, and many other species. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans, including the Kootenai and Salish peoples. In addition to the scenic beauty of the mountains, lakes, and rivers, the area has many community festivals, rodeos, Native American pow-wows, and art shows.

Daily life in the field

Itinerary

This is a summary:

Day 1: Meet, travel to field site

Day 2-6:

Survey huckleberries

Conduct remote camera work

Identify pollinators

Day 7: Departure

When you arrive, researchers and field staff will conduct an orientation and train you on the work you’ll be doing. You’ll also receive important safety training for working in the backcountry. Field work will begin on the second day, where you will be involved with:

Huckleberry surveys: Apply treatments designed by USGS to huckleberries in the field and count the number of berries to understand how changes in water, temperature, and pollination influence the number of berries available as food.

Remote camera work: Use camera-trap images to identify which mammal species are eating huckleberries and what other foods they switch to when huckleberries are not abundant.

Bee identification: Identify bees and associated flowering plants in the field sites.

In the evenings, you’ll head back to the field station for dinner, an informal talk by the researchers, and time to relax.

Note: Field conditions and research needs can lead to changes in the itinerary and activities. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

ACTIVITY LEVEL

MODERATE

Assist in counting huckleberries to understand how changes in water, temperature, and pollination influence available food.

The Scientists

MEET THE LEAD SCIENTIST

Maria

Mantas

Executive Director at Swan Valley Connections

ABOUT Maria Mantas

Maria Mantas is the Executive Director of Swan Valley Connections, a conservation and experiential learning non-profit located in Montana’s scenic Swan Valley. Maria’s team uses innovative, state-of-the-art research methods to determine the impact of climate change on bear foods such as huckleberries, alongside citizen scientists.

Accommodations and Food

Accommodations and Food

House in Flathead Valley;

Collaborative cooking

You will stay in a house located in the Swan Valley with access to electricity and refrigeration. There is phone and internet access, but it is limited (see project briefing). Shared rooms are equipped with either bunk-beds or twin beds. Volunteers will share in preparation of evening meals, with a focus on locally-available and organic food. Teams will bring packed lunches into the field each day.